


A Simple Transaction

by Dyce



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-25
Updated: 2007-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-29 06:58:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dyce/pseuds/Dyce
Summary: River has needs which are not being met. Clearly she needs a logical plan. And a mercenary.





	A Simple Transaction

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Smut. With pretensions of plot, but still smut.

  
Author's notes: Smut. With pretensions of plot, but still smut.  


* * *

A Simple Transaction

## A Simple Transaction

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, and if they ever found out what I'd been doing with them I daresay they'd beat me up. Or take notes. Joss owns all, and I hope does NOT see all because he'd probably beat me up too. 

This is my first attempt at smut and I know it's probably a bit wordy. Please be kind. 

Note: Post BDM, but Wash is alive because I need him for the sequel. We'll say he ducked. 

* * *

It was an entirely logical plan. 

River had suffered some uneasiness over the certainty that nobody else on the ship, with the hopeful exception of her target, would think her plan either right or desireable. However, she had considered her alternatives and, finding none, had _had_ to come up with the plan. 

Fact: River was a grown woman and wished to have sex. 

Fact: River was not involved in an intimate romantic relationship with someone, which was the most acceptable and common means of obtaining sex. 

Fact: When a relationship was lacking, sex could be obtained on a casual basis in bars. 

Fact: Simon and Mal would not let her go to bars alone, and would intervene if she attempted to pick up a man in their presence. 

Fact: Casual intimacy in a bar had a high risk of venereal disease, robbery, or being caught. 

Fact: Sex could also more safely be procured by means of currency. 

Fact: Simon and Mal would never, ever permit her to visit a whorehouse, even to see a female whore, let alone a male. (River was not willing to rule women out entirely, should the situation become desperate, but her preference was for males) 

Fact: Jayne considered an exchange of sex for currency to in fact be preferable to romantic intimacy, since intimacy unsettled him. 

Fact: While Simon and Mal had united in barring her from any venue in which she might obtain sex, they had ensured that she had money. 

She had found out from Inara, under the cunning disguise of trying to grasp exactly what money was worth out on the Rim and asking about the prices of absolutely everything, that a full-length appointment of two to three hours, including one possibly unusual request, with a prostitute of reasonable but not excessive skill and cleanliness, could be obtained for a half-platinum. (Which was equal in value to a meal and a bed for the night at an average inn, or one-twelfth of a cow) 

Jayne would probably haggle, so she had brought a little extra. 

She waited until Mal and Zoe were off scouting for work and having a 'quiet drink' with Inara afterwards, Wash was meeting with an old friend from flight school, and Simon and Kaylee were engaging in romantic intimacy in the engine room. Interruptions were not to be permitted. 

She climbed down the ladder into Jayne's bunk, finding him reading... oh, good. A pornographic publication. He would be in a receptive mood. "Jayne? I have a serious proposition to make to you." 

He sat up, shoving the magazine hastily under his pillow. "What the hell do you want?" 

River held up the bag. "I have here one half-platinum. I wish to strike a bargain with you." 

His eyebrows went up, and his eyes followed the swing of the money-bag. "I'm listenin'." 

"Simon and Mal are dementedly overprotective. They will not permit me to go anywhere alone, nor will they allow me to visit establishments they consider inappropriate." 

He blinked. "Yeah, that ain't news." 

"This has created a difficulty." River was glad he seemed so willing to discuss the matter. "I am an adult female in my prime. I have needs. Simon and Mal deny me the opportunity to have these needs met." She paused. "Am I being sufficiently clear? I know clinical detail can be considered offputting..." 

Jayne stared at her, with his mouth slightly open, and then he snickered. "Oh, I get your point. You wanna go out and get some trim, and Mal and Simon won't even let you walk down the street alone." 

"You see the difficulty." River nodded. "They would never allow me to visit a professional, and I cannot approach someone in a bar while they're right there. There'd be a fight, and I'd be dragged home in disgrace." 

"Yeah. You do have a problem there, doncha?" Jayne clearly found this very amusing. "So... uh... you want me to sneak you out to a whorehouse or somethin'?" 

"No. Although that may be a viable alternative." River shook her head. "The whores available on the Rim are generally female, and I prefer males." 

"Yeah, that is kind of a problem." Jayne frowned. "I could take you to a bar, I guess." 

"You have misunderstood." River held out the bag. "I understand that this is enough to purchase three hours of full attention. You prefer an exchange of currency to that of intimacy. I wish to purchase your time." 

Jayne's mouth fell open again, and this time it stayed that way for a while. "Are you tryin' to tell me," he said very slowly, "that you want to hire _me_ to sex you up?" 

"Yes. Given that you are somewhat past your prime and not especially inclined to cleanliness, you cannot expect more." 

"I... you..." He shook his head, apparently bereft of his always limited powers of speech. "This is... is it some kinda joke?" 

"No." 

"A trap? If I say yes, does Mal drop down out of that hatch and kill me?" 

River rolled her eyes. "Would Mal still be outside the hatch if he had heard me say such a thing?" 

"Well, no, guess not..." Jayne frowned. "Don't know how exactly you came by this idea, moonbrain, but I ain't a whore." 

"I know that. But you frequent them regularly, you are familiar with the procedure, and you are the only option available to me." River knew that sounding desperate was damaging to the haggling process, but she couldn't help it. "I am bereft of alternatives, and Simon and Kaylee hardly ever stop, and when they do Mal and Inara start, and Wash and Zoe are hardly less regular, and I can't help hearing things, and..." She trailed off, blushing. "The situation is becoming _serious_ , Jayne." 

To his credit, he didn't laugh. He was familiar with the discomfort of sexual frustration, and unlike the others he took it quite seriously. "So havin' people sexin' all around you, and you not being able to... that makes it worse, huh?" 

"Imagine if you were constantly seeing people engaging in intimacy and were never allowed to have any." River scowled. "Nor even to be alone long enough to purchase aids to self-gratification." 

Jayne looked at the magazine sticking out from under his pillow and winced. "Yeah. Got my sympathies there, right enough. But..." 

"You pay money for it all the time," River said, sensing a hint of weakness. "I do not see what is so different about being _given_ money, except that you will be held to a higher standard of performance." She decided that challenging him would be helpful. "Of course, if you are incapable of performing to a professional standard..." 

"Hey, I can perform just fine!" Jayne said, predictably. "And hell, can't say I ever thought anyone'd pay for _my_ time, but I got nothing against it. But Mal'd kill me dead and then Simon'd resuscitate me so _he_ could kill me." 

"I would not _allow_ them to kill you," River said firmly. "If they killed you I would be right back where I began, and with no alternatives left but to seduce Inara." 

Jayne liked that mental image very much. "Yeah, Mal wouldn't take _that_ well." 

"You see? It would be entirely in my interests to preserve you whole and intact for as long as humanly possible." She held out the bag again. "I am offering you a fair bargain. Three hours, in which I expect full intercourse at least twice. Mutual pleasure, and money to ward off any threat of emotional entanglement, which I do not want any more than you do." 

Jayne's eyes followed the bag's swing again. "You know this is a really gorram weird request, right?" 

"I know this is a really gorram difficult situation and I really, _really_ need to," River said, desperation leaching into her voice again. "I do not want to go insane again and I begin to feel as if I am going to at any moment." 

Jayne frowned. His urges were almost as overwhelming as River's, and without the intervention of neural stripping. The others, with their capacity for pushing thoughts aside, would not understand her distress. Jayne was sympathetic to what he knew was a real discomfort verging on physical pain. 

It was that, as much as his own ever-present sexual readiness and his desire for money, that decided him. "If it's that bad... fine. Okay. I'll do it." He looked around. "Uh... now?" 

"There will be no interruptions." River swallowed hard. "Please?" 

* * *

Jayne almost changed his mind, when it actually came to it. River wasn't any shade of normal, and he wasn't sure he entirely liked the idea of being paid for his time. 

But she was right - payin' was the best way to keep from getting all entangled. She had an itch that was pretty desperately in need of scratching, by the sound of it, and that was all she was looking to get from him. Well, that much he could provide, long as Mal and Simon never found out. 

He reached for the bag, and it was yanked out of his reach. "On completion," she said, giving him a reproving look. " _Satisfactory_ completion. You know that perfectly well." 

"Yeah, but I didn't think you did." Jayne grinned at the smug look on her face. "Fine. Uh... where you wanna start?" 

"I don't know." River frowned. "I have never actually engaged in this activity before. I've read about it, of course, but no practical experience." 

Jayne seriously considered changing his mind again. "You didn't tell me _that_." 

"You didn't ask." She bit her lip. "You do this all the time. You must know how." 

"Damn right I know how." Jayne frowned, considering. She wasn't half bad to look out, now that she was calmer most of the time. And there were worse things... much worse... than just maybe having an arrangement that'd let him get some trim between stops. "Fine. Then I'll take the lead here, and you speak up if you got anything you want more or less of, _dong ma_?" 

River nodded, looking downright relieved. "I _want_ ," she said quietly, and the raw need in her voice made his pulse speed up a bit. Virgins he didn't have a whole lot of practice with, but as far as he was concerned there was nothing better than a woman really wanted it _bad_. 

"Yeah, I'm gettin' the idea there." He reached out, pulling her forward so's she stood between his knees as he sat on the bed. This was better than standing up, he figured... he'd hardly be able to reach a damn thing standing, she was so small. Startin' slow seemed like the best plan, so he settled his hands on her hips, squeezing just a little and watching her face. 

She quivered. She actually gorram _quivered_ , and he'd not done a damn thing yet he couldn't have in front of anybody. This was going to be easier than he'd thought. 

Her eyes narrowed as he thought that, and she poked his shoulder. "I expect proper effort to be made," she said sternly. "You need not think I will pay you for a second-rate job." 

Jayne couldn't help snickering at that - she sounded so indignant. "Oh, I'll do right by you, don't worry." He let his hands wander some up and down her sides, sliding over delicate ribs and down again to touch her backside with his fingertips, up to just brush the underside of each small, firm breast with his thumbs. Her breathing was getting faster now, and so was his. She felt _good_ under his hands, warm and supple and damn near bare under that loose dress. 

She leaned a little closer, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders, and Jayne leaned in to nuzzle his face against the soft bare skin just above her breasts. She smelled _good_ , and the little sighs and wriggles weren't hurting his ego any. He slid his hands to squeeze her bottom lingeringly, hitching her closer, and that got him a little squeak would have woken his John Thomas from a sound sleep had that been necessary, which it really wasn't. 

Not with a warm, good-smelling, damned enthusiastic girl only a few inches away. 

"You are teasing..." she moaned, her voice all ragged and her hands coming up to cup the back of his head. "Please..." 

Jayne grinned, hitching her closer still and tugging her skirt up so he could slide his hands underneath. He took his time working his way up silky thighs, enjoying the rare opportunity to really go exploring without feeling like he was wasting money or time. He got his reward when he found his way up to her bottom again and found that he had been right... not a damn thing was she wearing under there. 

"Oh...!" River gasped, squirming as he kneaded. "Oh, my." 

Her nipples were standing out against the thin cotton of her dress, and Jayne nibbled on one a little, just to see what she'd do. 

What she did was let out a tiny growl, leaning back against his grip and looking down at him. Her face was all flushed, her breath coming in little pants, and Jayne shifted, his pants kind of uncomfortably tight now. "This position is inadequate. You can touch me, but I cannot touch you." 

"Can't argue." Didn't take but a moment to get her down astride his lap, and he found himself groaning in surprised pleasure when she immediately started grinding against him. "You _do_ want it bad." 

"Very, very bad," she agreed, her hands sliding up under his t-shirt. "More, please." 

More she could have just as much of as she wanted, far as Jayne Cobb was concerned. Habit made him duck his head, avoiding any chance for kissing by taking his lips for a wander down the side of her slender neck. She really did smell good, and she felt even better. He let his hands wander north and south, one sliding into the neck of her dress to cup her breast, the other slipping under her skirt again. 

* * *

River had sensed at one remove the effect of hands on skin, the sensations triggered by touch. They were even more overwhelming experienced first-hand. 

First hand, second hand... either hand was fine with River, just as long as it was one of Jayne's broad, calloused pair. They were in the process of reducing her to a panting, quivering puddle of desire, and she tried to make note of precisely how but she couldn't because his tongue had found a sensitive spot under her ear that she had had no idea even existed. "Nnn..." 

He chuckled, well pleased with his effect on her. "Like that, huh?" he murmured into her ear, and she knew that though _she_ could barely concentrate, he was making note of her every moan and squirm, wanting to know how to make her do it again. 

"Waaaaaaaaaant," she moaned, grinding again against the hard bulge in his trousers. As good as his hands felt, she still needed more. 

"Patience, crazy," he growled into her ear, making her shiver. "You'll get as much of that as you want in just a little bit..." 

"Don't want to be patient," she whined, nibbling on his ear to see if it would do to him what it did to her. He responded, his hands tightening on her and then the lower one pushing her up just a little. "Don't want... oh!" 

His fingers explored her, and River whimpered and burrowed her face into his neck, blushing as he teased her clitoris with one fingertip, then slid it lower, pressing into her the slightest bit. "How about that?" he murmured, nuzzling her ear. "You want _that_ , girl?" 

"Yessss..." River clung to him. "Please, please, more of that..." 

The finger worked slowly inside her, exploring parts of her body never, ever touched by anyone else _ever_ before and it felt so good that she couldn't think, could hardly muster the willpower to breathe. "Could drown a man right here," Jayne murmured into her ear, making her blush harder as he pushed a second finger into her even more slowly. "So wet already... you really want it..." 

His voice was ragged, the knowledge of her arousal stimulating his. River hadn't realized it could be that way for someone who didn't _hear_ , didn't _sense_... he knew what she was feeling without needing to _know_ , and it aroused him as much as his desire excited her. Taste and smell and feel... she was drowning in the sheer physicality of it and Jayne was drowning with her, pulling her with him as he immersed himself in tactility that deadened thought. 

She let him drown her, clinging to him as his fingers thrust faster and harder inside her, his thumb finding her clitoris and rubbing, teasing... he kept going until River wailed against his skin, coming apart at the seams and convulsing with the force of her orgasm as he held her tightly. 

He chuckled, then, his chin resting against her hair. He eased his fingers out of her (her own would never match them, never), and settled her more comfortably on his lap. "Told you I'd do right by you." 

That required an answer, though River could barely speak. "Want more than that," she mumbled, working a hand down between them to squeeze that hard, inviting bulge. "Want _that_." 

"Nnngh." He pushed up hard against her hand, not meaning to, but he wasn't used to waiting this long. "Oh, fuck... you'll get that, baby, believe me... just want you good and ready first..." 

River let go of him just long enough to pull her dress off over her head. "Then now. Oh, please, _now_ ," she begged, his urgent need threading through her and becoming hers. She would have to remember that, remember that when someone touched her and held her like _this_ there was no resisting their desire. "It's not enough, just once isn't _enough_... been needing for so long, worse and worse all the time and never relieved, never sated..." 

His eyes explored her and she felt shameless hunger uncoiling deep in his stomach and hers. "Well, hell, if you need it that bad," he growled, and he shoved her unceremoniously down on the bed beside him and rose, dragging off his boots and then his shirt. "Did tell ya to ask if you wanted more, didn't I?" 

"Yes." River watched, and never noticed that her mouth had fallen slightly open. He paused to look at her again when boots and shirt were off, and she tingled from her head to her toes to see him grin lecherously at her. He knew she was watching, and she knew that she knew, and she blushed again but she didn't look away as he peeled off his pants and turned to face her stark naked. 

She'd seen naked men, of course, in pictures and holograms. She'd even managed to steal some mildly pornographic material from Kaylee, who no longer needed it. 

Seeing the real thing wasn't the same. He was so _solid_ , and she could feel heat emanating from him and she could smell him and he permeated her every sense as he moved forward until he was close enough to touch. "Lie back," he told her, and she did, still watching. 

The bed was hard and the blanket a little scratchy, but she forgot completely about that when he lowered himself onto the bed with her, pushing her knees apart to make room for his, settling over her with most of his weight on arms and knees, so he wouldn't crush her. "This what you want?" he murmured, inching down to lick and nip at her nipple. 

It felt wonderful. River closed her eyes, hooking her leg around his waist and trying to pull him upwards. "No..." 

He chuckled, his hand sliding down to lift her leg higher as he slid up to nuzzle her neck. "How 'bout this? This what you want?" 

"Ahh... no..." He was teasing her, the horrible, cruel man, and she would make him pay just as soon as she'd finished surrendering herself to him entirely. 

He propped himself up, looking down at her, and River swallowed hard. No tenderness, no affection... she hadn't wanted those, not from him. But he wasn't indifferent to her, either. He wanted her, _hungered_ for her... and he wanted her to hunger for him just as badly. Wanted her to _need_ him on that purely tactile level that was home to him, wanted to claim her until both were sated. 

"This what you want?" he breathed, and pushed inside her slowly. "Tell me, girl, you want this?" 

River wailed, clutching at him, her legs wrapping tightly around him. There was a little discomfort, just a little, but she'd spent far too many hours trying to exhaust herself for it to hurt much now. "Yes, yes, yesyesyesyes that please that!" 

* * *

Her cries just about sent him over the edge there and then, and Jayne clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the sight of her wanton and eager under him. "Oh, fuck..." he gasped, starting to thrust, trying to keep it slow at first and just about managing 'not all that fast'. "That, yeah, _definitely_ that... lots of that..." 

She felt so _good_ , tight and hot and wet, with soft thighs cradling his hips and slender calves crossing on his back as he took her. "Yes.... ahh... oh, please..." she whimpered, her hands sliding up his chest to grip his shoulders. 

She didn't have to ask, let alone beg... he wasn't sure he could have stopped now even if Mal had come down that ladder and pointed a gun right at his head. He was lost in the smell and taste and sound and feel dear God the _feel_ of River Tam, thrusting mindlessly as she begged and he cursed and they both moved faster and harder. "Yes... _wo de ma_ , fuck, _nnngh_!" 

"This... yes... needed _this_ ," she moaned, her head lifting and her tongue brushing his neck, which drove him forward so hard her hips lifted off the bed. Her legs tightened around him, pulling him just as deep as he could get, and Jayne wondered if his heart could take the sheer intensity of it. 

He didn't care if it couldn't. This was worth it. He'd never had sex quite like this before, pure and primal and _needing_ so gorram bad that he wasn't sure three hours would be enough. He slid an arm under her, hitching her close against him. "Oh, yeah... _ta ma de_ , so ruttin' tight..." 

"Too much..." she moaned, eyes huge in her flushed face. "I want... need... oh, God, too much, not enough, please..." 

He knew _exactly_ what she meant... too much, the endless wave building between them, but still not enough because they weren't _there_ yet, the wave wasn't breaking and he understood now why she'd feared going crazy for the need of it. "Yes... fuck, _yes_..." was all he could manage by way of response, but he thrust faster and deeper and that was answer enough. 

River made a choked gasping noise, nails digging hard into his shoulder. "Felt... something... oh God..." she moaned. "Going to..." 

And then she was, screaming shrilly and clutching at him and _clenching_ until it felt like he was buried in a hot, wet vise. That dragged him down with her and he fell gladly, hardly aware that he was being as loud as she was as he wrapped around her and came so hard he thought he'd die of it. 

* * *

Three full months it had taken before River had resorted to paying Jayne for his time. (And his touch, and his mouth, and especially the part he referred to as a John Thomas, silly name though that was). Three months before the currents of sexual tension flowing through Serenity had driven her to breaking point. 

Three days later, she was in the same state she'd been in before going to him... but worse, because she knew just how good it felt when the sensations were _hers_ , not mere reflections along Serenity's corridors. 

She had been snippy at dinner and, faced with Simon's hurt and Kaylee's bewilderment, had retreated early to bed. Simon had, fortunately, retreated to Kaylee's bunk for more intimacy - base, unfair, to deny her opportunities he had himself! 

At least he wasn't having those opportunities directly across the hall. It was just slightly less uncomfortable when he was further away. 

She had tried to attend to her own needs, but given up in disgust. Jayne had raised her standards for gratification and her own fingers would not do. Instead she was reading a particularly boring textbook on piloting spacecraft, waiting for everyone to stop what they were doing and go to sleep. 

Mal and Inara had been arguing, and were now making up. Sweatily. 

Simon and Kaylee were still going. 

Zoe and Wash were sleeping, warmth and love coiled together. 

Jayne was... knocking on her door. 

Blinking, River slid off the bed and opened the sliding screen. "What?" 

He opened his mouth. He closed it again. He rubbed an angry hand over his head and held out the other hand. 

A familiar bag lay in his palm. 

"Got a bargain I wanta make," he muttered, watching her with hungry eyes, rippling inside with fear that she would refuse him and leave him to suffer his craving alone. 

River nodded. "Three hours. At least twice." 

"We managed four last time." 

"I would not be averse to trying for five." 

(end) 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:   **A Simple Transaction**   
Author:   **Dyce**   
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **NC-17**  |  **het**  |  **23k**  |  **03/25/07**   
Characters:  Jayne, River   
Pairings:  Jayne/River   
Summary:  River has needs which are not being met. Clearly she needs a logical plan. And a mercenary.   
Notes:  Smut. With pretensions of plot, but still smut.   
  



End file.
